Is Your Training Program Missing the #1 Main Ingredient

“Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price.”— Sun Tzu

Did you know that you can get down to single digit bodyfat and look like an elite level pro athlete by training for just 10 minutes a day, twice a week?

And you can do it while eating whatever you want? It’s true…cuz I heard it on the radio… and read it on the internet.

Eight minute abs. That’s right folks, in just eight minutes a day you can get the abs of Cheik Congo (pictured). All it takes is a quick crunch workout.

No need to worry about your diet or doing any exercises that actually jack up your metabolism and burn fat.

Six minute muscle. Phil Heath look out. Because some lazy schmuck is gonna embarrass you right off the stage next year by training no more than 18 minutes per week.

Four minutes to super strength. Wait til Chuck Vogelpohl and Louie Simmons find out that they wasted all those years and could have gotten so much stronger with significantly less time and effort.

Two minuteconditioning. Poor Tito Ortiz. All those wasted trips to Big Bear in the high altitude. If only he had known that hard work was out of style and that he could have been in even better shape if he cut his training time down to two minutes per day.

What People Want to Hear vs The Truth

People want to hear that it’s easy and won’t take much time. I mean who wants to push a sled 90 feet 10-12 times straight? Who wants to climb a rope? Or do squats and deadlifts? In the same workout? That sounds really hard.

And who could possibly make the time to work out a few days per week?

A marketing guy once sent me an unsolicited email offering me his services. He told me that if I wanted to double my business I had to stop being so honest. I had to make it seem like my workouts were REALLY easy, that getting in shape didn’t require much work and that the whole process would be painless and effortless.

To his point I put very little time and effort into my reply…

Fuck.

Off.

Getting in shape is brutally hard work.

I don’t give a shit what anyone tells you. If you can’t handle the truth then you’re destined to be soft and weak forever.

If you’re twenty percent body fat right now and desperately want a six pack you had better be prepared to diet train harder than you ever have in your entire life.

When everyone is drinking beer at the football tailgate party on Sunday you’re drinking water. And when the hot dogs go on the grill, you’re gonna have to pull out a chicken breast and broccoli.

And you’re going to do that EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR SIXTEEN WEEKS STRAIGHT.

Don’t have time to do hill sprints after work? Then you gotta set your alarm clock a half hour earlier and get up while it’s still dark out.

And let me tell you something else… NOBODY gets ripped in just three workouts per week. If you want to see really significant fat loss you need to be putting in a minimum of five sessions per week .

That means three to four strength workouts, 2-3 hill sprint or sled sessions and a 30-60 minute walk first thing every morning on an empty stomach.

I’ve seen really fat dudes get on a bodybuilding stage in 20 weeks. But they didn’t say they “wanted” to do it. They said they were “going” to do it. And they did all that was necessary to achieve that goal. Which means, in the eyes of most people, their lives were pretty miserable for five months. It means no unplanned cheat meals and undying, round the clock dedication. But these people had the drive that most people don’t and were actually willing to work for something.

How Bad Do You Want It?

Wanting and doing are two completely different things. We all want a lot of things. But how many of us actually achieve our goals? How many are willing to put in the hard work necessary to reach the top?

Are you?

Am I?

“Twenty weeks?! That’s a lot of dieting and hard work. I can commit to six weeks but not twenty.”

Then go play World of Warcraft and watch another rerun of Friends. Nobody gives a fuck if you don’t hit your goals. You only have yourself to answer to.

No matter what anyone tells you there is no replacement for hard work. No training system, no diet, no machine, no gimmick and no supplement.

But most people fear hard work more than they fear death. They simply don’t have it in them.

How many times have you gone to a public gym and seen someone doing a dumbbell clean and press a la Sig Klein?

When was the last time you saw someone heavy farmers walks? Now that’s a hard, uncomfortable exercise. Who wants to subject themselves to that?

Standing presses?! Who wants to stand? You need to be comfortably seated with lumbar support while “working out.”

Trap bar deadlifts? Log cleans? Sandbag shouldering?

All those exercises take too long to perfect and the learning process can be very frustrating. Much easier to just jump on a machine, right?

Single leg kettebell deadlifts? Only a genius with the mental acuity of Albert Einstein could possibly learn to do those properly. Who has the time for that?

What “hardgainers” are actually willing to turn off another mindless episode of reality TV and go to sleep an hour earlier to accelerate the muscle building process? Or have what it takes to force feed themselves 3-4 times a day and sneak protein shakes in between classes?

Very few.

Unlike getting shredded, building muscle doesn’t require 6-10 workouts per week. Most average dudes can get great results with 3-4 sessions per week. But it’s still a 24 hour a day job that requires a monumental effort.

We are all brainwashed to believe that you can get bigger and stronger and leaner in a very short time, with very little effort and even less dedication.

But nothing could be further from the truth, my friends.

The only way to achieve physical greatness is through brutally hard fucking work.

That, my friends, is the main ingredient.

End of story.

Now go earn it.

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About Jason Ferruggia

Jay Ferruggia is a fitness & lifestyle consultant who has helped thousands of guys get fit, get their shit together and start living awesome lives. He’s been featured in Men’s Fitness, Details, Men’s Health, ESPN, Muscle & Fitness, CBS, & Fast Company. His work is fueled by Renegade Coffee & old school hip hop.